Audio/Video
Betting
Fantasy
Mobile
Shopping
Reviews
Travel
Equipment


ECB

Live and News
Live Scores
Latest News
Live Audio
Media Centre

International
The Ashes
2003 Fixtures
Other Tours/Series
England Women
National Academy
Domestic
The Counties

2002 Season

Frizzell County
Championship
Norwich Union
C&G Trophy
B&H Cup

Directory
League
Women's Cricket
Grassroots

Fans' Centre
Forum
TV & Radio
Ticket Availability
Wallpaper

Deep Extra Cover
StatsGuru
Statistics
Scorebook
Player Profiles
Grounds
Internet Links

MCC

Help & Feedback
Send it to a friend



The Official Home of English Cricket on the Internet

 


Advertise on CricInfo
CricInfo.com


Advertise on ECB.co.uk


Chris Lewis

Clairmonte Christopher Lewis

Born: 14 February 1968, Georgetown, Demerara, Guyana
Major Teams: Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, England.
Known As: Chris Lewis
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Fast Medium


Test Debut: England v New Zealand at Birmingham, 3rd Test, 1990
Latest Test:
England v Pakistan at The Oval, 3rd Test, 1996

ODI Debut:
England v West Indies at Port-of-Spain, 1st ODI, 1989/90
Latest ODI:
England v South Africa at Manchester, Texaco Trophy, 1998

Teams: Leicestershire 1987-91 (capped 1990);
Nottinghamshire 1992-95 (capped 1992).
Surrey 1996

Tours: England Young Cricketers to Australia 1987
England A to Kenya & Zimbabwe 1989-90.
England to West Indies 1989-90 & 1993-94.
Australia & New Zealand 1990-91.
Australia 1994-95
New Zealand 1991-92
India & Sri Lanka 1992-93.

Career Statistics:

TESTS
 (including 22/08/1996)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding   32   51   3  1105  117   23.02  45.64   1   4   25   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
Bowling            1142    220  3490   93  37.52  6-111   3   0  73.6  3.05

ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
 (including 23/05/1998)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding   53   40  14   374   33   14.38  80.60   0   0   20   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI   4w  5w    SR  Econ
Bowling             437.3   29  1942   66  29.42  4-30    4   0  39.7  4.43

FIRST-CLASS
 (1987 - 2000)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding  189  275  34  7406  247   30.73   9  34  154   0

                      O       R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
Bowling            5334   16225  543  29.88  6-22   20   3  58.9  3.04

LIST A LIMITED OVERS
 (1987 - 2000)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding  265  216  56  3926  116*  24.53   1  14  104   0

                      O       R    W    Ave   BBI   4w  5w    SR  Econ
Bowling            1968.2  8181  312  26.22  5-19   10   2  37.8  4.15

- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.


StatsGuru Filters for Chris Lewis



Statistics involving Chris Lewis



Articles about Chris Lewis

Full list of articles

Pictures of Chris Lewis

Full list of images

Profile:

Memorably described by Vic Marks as the "enigma without variation," Chris Lewis will be remembered as a wonderfully talented athlete who never quite attained the levels predicted of him.

Born in Georgetown, Guyana, the son of a church minister, Clairmonte Christopher Lewis emigrated to England when he was just 10. He went to school with England team-mate Phil DeFreitas in Willesden and joined Leicestershire in 1987. The national selectors soon took notice and he was chosen for the Youth World Cup in Australia that winter, where he helped his side to the semi-finals.

A fine, though truncated 1989 season saw Lewis selected for the A Tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya, but an injury to Ricardo Ellcock saw Lewis called up to the senior trip to the West Indies. He made his international debut in a one-dayer at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad, taking the wicket of Desmond Haynes to illustrate that he was at home at the top level.

Lewis retained his place when England returned home for the series against New Zealand, impressing with 3-54 at Leeds, and a fiery spell at The Oval which saw Rutherford struck on the head and Hadlee sustain a broken finger. Lewis's Test debut came at Edgbaston, as England beat New Zealand to take the series. He again impressed, with four wickets in the Test and a fluent 32 runs. Injury problems first became apparent in the subsequent series with India, when shortly before the Third Test, Lewis pulled out feeling unwell. The cause was later announced to be a migraine, but some were less than impressed by the dedication of the young fast bowler.

Worse was to follow on the Ashes Tour of 1990-91. Having contributed well as England were beaten in the First Test, Lewis was forced home with a stress fracture in his back, and upon being recalled for the First Test against the West Indies at home, he again pulled out feeling unwell. He was also diagnosed as suffering from Raynaud's Syndrome, a blood circulation problem that necessitates a month in hospital every couple of months. However, the selectors kept patience at this stage and recalled him for the Fourth Test, where he repaid them handsomely with 6-111 in the West Indies first innings and 65, coming in at number ten, in England's second innings as they crashed to defeat. 47 not out in the next Test helped England level the series. He performed well on the New Zealand tour that winter too, confirming thoughts that, as Botham's talents waned, this was now England's premier all-rounder. He scored 70 at Christchurch and 5-31 at Auckland as England won the series, but was again forced to miss a Test, this time due to Raynaud's Syndrome. Restricted by a side strain, he nevertheless played a valuable role in the side that made it to the final.

A much vaunted and highly lucrative move to Nottinghamshire in 1992 ended in acrimony with Lewis claiming he had been "opposed because I didn't drink, opposed for wearing certain clothes," and rather bizarrely, "opposed because of my underwear."

Lewis had performed well in 1992 though, topping the Notts bowling averages (with 40 wickets at 24 in the Championship) and being second in their batting averages (at an average of 49.25). He was awarded his cap too, in 1993, the season in which he scored a career-best 247 for Notts against Durham. In 1994, too, he delivered when finally allowed to bat at number six as he'd requested. He averaged 58 and was fifth in the national averages. But matters came to a head in 1995. Lewis missed almost the entire season with a hip problem and was released in July. He had put in a request to leave in 1994, and when it was not granted, stated publicly that he was determined to leave for one of the London clubs. This was against ECB (TCCB at the time) regulations and Notts lost patience. Wisden noted that: "news of his release was greeted with cheers around Trent Bridge." He was not popular, to be sure, but perhaps the members were also venting their disappointment and frustration. They had seen enough to know how good he could be.

Back in the international arena, Lewis had an unspectacular series against Pakistan in 1992, punctuated by a fine 55 and five wickets in the match at Old Trafford. On tour in India he had no luck with the ball, taking three wickets in three Tests, but in Madras on his 25th birthday he struck a wonderful maiden Test century, 117 brought up with a six to provide lone resistance as Kumble spun England to an innings defeat.

A pair at Lord's in 1993, against Australia, saw Lewis dropped from the Test team (by an unfortunate coincidence, pictures of Lewis posing almost naked appeared in a magazine at the same time), and though he was selected to tour the West Indies, further injuries (to his heel this time) restricted him, although seven wickets at Port of Spain and 75 not out at St John's illustrated his potential. He also didn't endear himself to the management after getting Devon Malcolm to shave his head, then failing to wear a hat and consequently missing the first warm-up game with sunstroke.

Lewis played one-day international cricket in the summer of 1994 and scored 220 not out against a strong Warwickshire side, but could not win a Test recall. While the national team embarked on an Ashes tour, he opted for club cricket in Australia, and was in the right place when Gough was forced off the tour injured. 11 wickets in two Tests, including a vital 4-24 at Adelaide, placed him back in the reckoning before injury intervened again.

5-72 on his return to the side, against India in June 1996 at Edgbaston, the year Lewis joined Surrey and useful all-round displays at Lord's and Trent Bridge augured well for a successful comeback, but in truth his international career was almost finished. Later that summer he arrived late for a One-Day International and his excuse was deemed unacceptable. A recall to the one-day squad to face South Africa in 1998 was but a brief return; the selectors were keen to invest in youth and Chairman of Selectors David Graveney admitted, while insisting that performance alone (and not character) was the key to an international place, that "Chris Lewis is different."

Outstandingly talented in all facets of the game, Chris Lewis could make cricket look easy. 6'3" and capable of bowling fast with a fluid and graceful action, a natural timer of the ball when batting and as athletic a fielder as one could hope to see, Lewis' abundant talent made his relatively modest returns all the more galling. At times he appeared to be in cruise control, content to get by rather than seizing the initiative. Such a view is probably harsh. Over 500 first-class wickets with 93 in Tests and over 7,000 first-class runs illustrate a productive career. Martin Johnson once joked that Lewis had undergone so many x-rays that the easiest way to find him was to switch on a Geiger counter. Ray Illingworth commented: "Chris Lewis? He plays a couple of games, then you don't see him for weeks," and Graham Gooch remarked that "You can tell just by looking at Dominic Cork's eyes that he wants it bad. I was never sure what Lewis wanted." No doubt Lewis was misunderstood; not fitting into the tight confines of dressing room life. He does not drink, dislikes smoke and carries a bible with him: not routine for a young man, but quite commendable in its way. His habit of referring to himself in the third person was not to everyone's taste and the belief grew that he was a prima donna. His relationship with controversial agent Gareth James caused distrust too.

Lewis continued to perform well at county level for Surrey, in the increasingly rare periods when injuries permitted, winning his cap in 1996 and playing a prominent role in their Benson and Hedges Cup success of 1997. He showed what might have been by captaining the side with flair when Hollioake was absent. He moved back to Leicestershire for the 1998 season, and played a handful of games a season for them.

Lewis announced, in an English tabloid in 2000, that he had once been approached by a bookmaker to help fix a game. The bookmaker allegedly also provided the names of three high profile England players who had been involved in such practices in the past. Doubt was expressed over the authenticity of the story, but following a police investigation a man was arrested in London.

Lewis left first-class cricket during the winter of 2000-2001, with many bridges burnt and an apparent hip injury inhibiting his bowling. His cricketing epitaph will be of an unfulfilled talent, barely utilised, and allowed to slip away from English cricket at a time when he was sorely needed. (George Dobell, Copyright CricInfo 2001)

* Last Updated: Saturday, 17-Aug-2002 14:42:43 GMT


 
USA5 Server